Robert Grenier is an American poet, critic, and editor, largely associated with the Language movement of the 1960’s and ‘70’s. In 1971, Grenier helped found and co-edit the first three issues of This journal—one of the first publications to collect emerging Language poets. Throughout the length of his career, Grenier has employed various compositional techniques to create his poems, including colored pencil on note cards, and digital-text slideshows .[1]
Biography
Robert Grenier was born August 4, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For his education, Grenier attended Harvard and received a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa.[2] In 1971, Grenier helped found This magazine, and became recognized as a significant figure of the Language poets as its initial editor.[3] Currently residing in Bolinas, California, he has so far achieved two NEA fellowships for his poetry. Grenier is still active in poetry, as he travels the country reading and showing his poetry at Colleges and Universities[4] . Limited details are available on the life of Robert Grenier, which is a recognizable trait among language poets who wish to put emphasis on their work instead of themselves.
Movement
Language Poetry
Grenier's This magazine brought about a new technique called Language Poetry. Language poetry is an avant-garde movement that brought attention to how words and symbols come together to represent thoughts and ideas. It also brought attention to the political nature of language, and defied the nature of traditional literature by frequently being comprised of fragments that seem nonsensical. The community of language poets is small, but thrives on its aversion to the mainstream.[5]
"I HATE SPEECH."
In the first issue of This magazine in 1971, Robert Grenier famously declared “I HATE SPEECH.”[6] This was an ironic, but influential statement that marked Language poetry’s “dismissal of "voice" as the foundational principle of lyric poetry.”[7] In his 1986 book, In the American Tree, Ron Silliman elaborated Grenier’s statement by writing that it “announced a breach--and a new moment in American writing"—a turn away from "simple ego psychology in which the poetic text represents not a person, but a persona, the human as unified object. And the reader likewise."[8]
This Magazine was a radical publication published between 1971 and 1982. First, it was a joint effort by Robert Grenier and Barrett Watten, but after the first five issues, it was solely taken on by Watten.[9] It was a poetry journal that featured Language Poetry, a movement of which, as discussed previously, Robert Grenier played an essential role. There were a total of twelve issues featuring poetry from over ten poets of the language variety.[10] Though there is not much information about This Magazine available, an archive of the works in the magazine is available here: //This// Magazine.
Artistic Techniques
Minimalism
Grenier uses a style called minimalist poetry. To convey minimalism, Grenier works by hand, writing with four different colors in a notebook. This style, for Grenier, entails seemingly simplistic ideas, which, in their lack of complexity, convey any number of ideas and interpretations. The following example of Grenier's minimalist poetry is shown below, demonstrating hand-drawn, colored lines which vaguely resemble letters:
Another example of Grenier's minimalism would be a series of words, structured in a manor which could evoke multiple different interpretations, such as: APRI COT JAM JAR[11] While both of these works are unique and different in their appearance, they are similar in that they are very simple in appearance, allowing a viewer or reader to infer a myriad of meanings from either piece.
Interpretations
Sentences (1978)
Grenier's composition, Sentences, is comprised of 500 index cards with varying words and phrases. Some of the cards contain a single word, while others contain lists of words, but none of these cards present language in a conventional manner. For example, one card says the following:
This seems to be more of a thought than a sentence or a poem. Perhaps it is a poem presented in the form of thought. Another card of Sentences simply reads this:
No two cards appear to be clearly linked together, although it seems to be up to the reader to decide whether or not ideas connect. Who the "her" is in the above passage is unclear, and the overall meaning of the entire piece is not made clear either. One might refer to such ambiguity as indeterminacy.
The Element of Chance in Sentences:
The reading experience of Grenier's composition is entirely dependent upon chance. The random succession of cards creates a unique reading nearly every time. Because of this unrestricted arrangement, the composition of the poem may seem disjointed, but if experienced for a long enough time, associations are developed between the cards by the reader.
Sentences as Music
One portion of Grenier's work in Sentences can be interpreted as music instead of a collection of letters. can be interpreted as either or or more liberally as this
A Video of Grenier
References
Images are used in accordance with fair use practices.If you hold copyright to an image, and do not agree that its use accords with fair use practices,please contact the wiki's creator and organizer.
Robert Grenier is an American poet, critic, and editor, largely associated with the Language movement of the 1960’s and ‘70’s. In 1971, Grenier helped found and co-edit the first three issues of This journal—one of the first publications to collect emerging Language poets. Throughout the length of his career, Grenier has employed various compositional techniques to create his poems, including colored pencil on note cards, and digital-text slideshows .[1]
Biography
Robert Grenier was born August 4, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For his education, Grenier attended Harvard and received a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa.[2] In 1971, Grenier helped found This magazine, and became recognized as a significant figure of the Language poets as its initial editor.[3] Currently residing in Bolinas, California, he has so far achieved two NEA fellowships for his poetry. Grenier is still active in poetry, as he travels the country reading and showing his poetry at Colleges and Universities[4] . Limited details are available on the life of Robert Grenier, which is a recognizable trait among language poets who wish to put emphasis on their work instead of themselves.
Movement
Language Poetry
Grenier's This magazine brought about a new technique called Language Poetry. Language poetry is an avant-garde movement that brought attention to how words and symbols come together to represent thoughts and ideas. It also brought attention to the political nature of language, and defied the nature of traditional literature by frequently being comprised of fragments that seem nonsensical. The community of language poets is small, but thrives on its aversion to the mainstream.[5]"I HATE SPEECH."
In the first issue of This magazine in 1971, Robert Grenier famously declared “I HATE SPEECH.”[6] This was an ironic, but influential statement that marked Language poetry’s “dismissal of "voice" as the foundational principle of lyric poetry.”[7] In his 1986 book, In the American Tree, Ron Silliman elaborated Grenier’s statement by writing that it “announced a breach--and a new moment in American writing"—a turn away from "simple ego psychology in which the poetic text represents not a person, but a persona, the human as unified object. And the reader likewise."[8]Notable Pieces
This Magazine
This Magazine was a radical publication published between 1971 and 1982. First, it was a joint effort by Robert Grenier and Barrett Watten, but after the first five issues, it was solely taken on by Watten.[9] It was a poetry journal that featured Language Poetry, a movement of which, as discussed previously, Robert Grenier played an essential role. There were a total of twelve issues featuring poetry from over ten poets of the language variety.[10] Though there is not much information about This Magazine available, an archive of the works in the magazine is available here: //This// Magazine.Artistic Techniques
Minimalism
Grenier uses a style called minimalist poetry. To convey minimalism, Grenier works by hand, writing with four different colors in a notebook. This style, for Grenier, entails seemingly simplistic ideas, which, in their lack of complexity, convey any number of ideas and interpretations. The following example of Grenier's minimalist poetry is shown below, demonstrating hand-drawn, colored lines which vaguely resemble letters:Another example of Grenier's minimalism would be a series of words, structured in a manor which could evoke multiple different interpretations, such as:
APRI
COT
JAM
JAR[11]
While both of these works are unique and different in their appearance, they are similar in that they are very simple in appearance, allowing a viewer or reader to infer a myriad of meanings from either piece.
Interpretations
Sentences (1978)
Grenier's composition, Sentences, is comprised of 500 index cards with varying words and phrases. Some of the cards contain a single word, while others contain lists of words, but none of these cards present language in a conventional manner. For example, one card says the following:might be
a good
year killed
the first
black fly
that bit
me and
the first
mosquito[12]
The Element of Chance in Sentences:
The reading experience of Grenier's composition is entirely dependent upon chance. The random succession of cards creates a unique reading nearly every time. Because of this unrestricted arrangement, the composition of the poem may seem disjointed, but if experienced for a long enough time, associations are developed between the cards by the reader.Sentences as Music
One portion of Grenier's work in Sentences can be interpreted as music instead of a collection of letters.can be interpreted as either
or
or more liberally as this
A Video of Grenier
References
Images are used in accordance with fair use practices.If you hold copyright to an image, and do not agree that its use accords with fair use practices,please contact the wiki's creator and organizer."Robert Grenier EPC Author Page." Electronic Poetry Center, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2012.
Robert Grenier – Jacket2.Jacket2. N.p, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
"Poetry Previews: Language Poetry." Poetry Previews. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.
This 1. Oakland: This Press, 1971. Print. 12 Feb. 2012.
"THIS Magazine." THIS. Web. 05 Mar. 2012.
Davis, James. "Review: Robert Grenier - 64 (The Irony of Flatness, Bury Art Gallery, 19 July - 8 November."
Parameter Magazine. N.p, n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012.
Grenier, Robert. "Sentences.." Whale Cloth Press. Web. 05 Mar. 2012.
Grenier.